Back in the 1950s and 1960s, when Taiwan needed support in the international community to hold onto its seat in the United Nations, one of its most effective means of winning friends abroad was through agriculture. Numerous teams of agricultural technicians were dispatched to developing countries, especially in Africa, to teach farmers techniques for increasing…
Another Chapter in NTU Presidency Saga It appeared in December that the prolonged standoff between National Taiwan University and the Ministry of Education over the NTU faculty’s election of economist Kuan Chung-ming as university president had finally been resolved. Education Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong, who was moved over from the Interior Ministry specifically to bring the…
Western medicine was introduced to Taiwan a century and a half ago by foreign missionaries such as George Leslie Mackay, and American doctors in the 1970s and 1980s helped Taiwan develop a vaccine to overcome the scourge of hepatitis B. Now that Taiwan has built its own strong foundation in healthcare and public health, it…
In the first two-plus years of the New Southbound Policy, the number of students from the target countries enrolled in Taiwan’s colleges and universities increased by over one-third to reach 41,000. At the same time, more than 7,000 young Taiwanese per year head for the New Southbound countries either to take formal courses of study…
In addition to the New Southbound Policy, one of the central initiatives of the Tsai Ing-wen administration has been the “5+2 Innovative Industry” program focusing on cutting edge industrial sectors. The goal of forging links between those two policies was assigned to the Ministry of Economic Affairs as one of the five flagship projects under…
Su Tseng-chang Takes Office as New Premier Following Premier Lai Ching-te’s resignation due to the poor showing of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the November 2018 municipal elections, President Tsai tapped a senior DPP leader, Su Tseng-chang, to succeed him. The President told the media that she selected Su because he possesses three…
Tariff Rate Set for Offshore Wind Energy The Ministry of Economic Affairs in late January announced a new feed-in tariff for offshore wind power – a 5.71% reduction from the previous level but a smaller cut than the 12.71% previously proposed. The Ministry had been feeling pressure from two sides. Critics argued that the government…
The New Southbound Policy, launched in 2016 to enhance Taiwan’s contacts with countries in the surrounding region, has recently taken on added significance. The deterioration in U.S.-China economic relations has placed the spotlight on Southeast Asia and India as prime areas for future growth in trade and investment. Taiwan’s efforts to enhance relations with those…
Feeling the Pinch With the global trade environment growing increasingly uncertain, Taiwan recorded exports worth US$28.6 billion in December, 3% less than in the same month a year earlier. The Ministry of Finance attributed the dip largely to sluggish demand for semiconductors used in manufacturing smartphones. New export orders received in December told a similar…
Referendum Extends Use of Nuclear Energy In one of the 10 referendums that were also on the November 24 ballot, a substantial majority voted to overturn an article in the Electricity Act requiring Taiwan to terminate all nuclear power generation by 2025. Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said that in accordance with that result, the…
